


Birth by Storms

by QueenOfPlotTwists



Series: 31 Day Yu-Gi-October Halloween Challenge [9]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: 31 Days Of Halloween, Alternate Universe - 19th Century, Amnesia, Bronzeshipping, Caravans, Episode: s07e01 It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Gypsyies, Halloween Challenge, Inspired by Frankenstein, Mad Scientists, Night at the Inn, October Prompt Challenge, Puzzleshipping, implied tendershipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26913589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfPlotTwists/pseuds/QueenOfPlotTwists
Summary: On a dark and stormy night, a small caravan rescues a terrified young girl named Ryou who is running from something, but she doesn't remember what.She doesn't remember anything.The only clue to her past may be the odd scar upon her chest...Day 9 of 31 Day Y-G-October/Halloween Prompt ChallengePrompt 28: Missing
Relationships: Implied Yami Bakura/Bakura Ryou, Marik Ishtar/Yami Marik, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi
Series: 31 Day Yu-Gi-October Halloween Challenge [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947991
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	Birth by Storms

**Author's Note:**

> This one came to me when I was thinking of a Frankenstein-esque RPG setting one of my exs put in my head that I never really stopped thinking about...  
> With the prompt the first thing that came to mind was missing memory and from there the whole Frankenstein-esque setting and background came into life.  
> I also have a great deal of respect for Mary Shelly nee Wollstonecraft, her work, her life, her struggles and accomplishments--one of my favorite prose biographies about her is titled Mary's Monster by Lita Judge. If you ever get the chance to read it it is a fantastic story with over 300 watercolor illustrations as well, reading it I can never look at the Frankenstein story the same (mostly because the films completely destroy the power of the book)
> 
> But anyway...this takes place in the Frankenstein era, and i'll leave it up yo you to figure out the plot ;)
> 
> Day 9 of my 31-Days Halloween Prompt Challenge  
> https://horrificmemes.tumblr.com/post/165553173026/31-horrific-days-v2-october-writing-challenge
> 
> Prompt 28: Missing

Birth by Storm

Roaring thunder and shattering rain pierced the silence of the darkness. Light flashed illuminating a starless sky and for an instant the laboratory was noon-day bright.

Glass beakers and organs floating in colored liquid. Tessa coils and Bunsen burners splitting flames. A cold flat metal table and leather straps and metal buckled biting into his skin.

Rising.

Cold air.

Rain like loves lashing at his skin.

Thunder roaring in his ears.

Lighting flashing.

Electricity: bursting, biting, burning.

Sparks everywhere.

Fire.

Pain.

Pain everywhere.

So much pain.

Breathe.

Tears.

Dampness on his skin.

Someone sensing above him: tench coat flying, wild hair damp from rain.

Laughter: loud, victorious, maniacal.

A zealous, ominous, God-Defying Chant Of “You’re alive? You’re Alive! YOU’RE ALIVE!”

It was the image that haunted her nightmares and cast phantoms of fear in his waking moments. Her darkest fear and her worst terror though she knew nothing of its origins.

It was her only memory.

X X X

Ryou sat up screaming just as another crash of thunder and flash of lighting pierced the night. He sat up shaking in terror even as Yugi pulled her into a tight embrace and Marik pulled the tarp that proved a poor shield against the onslaught of rain higher over their heads in a desperate attempt to keep dry.

“Everything alright back there?” Yami called from the driver’s bench

“Woohoo!” Malik tugged in the reigns, the horses spooked by the thunder and lighting in combination. But the horse continues to buck and reign.

“Easy Phantom!” Yami grabbed the reigns and pulled the cart to a stop. “I’ll take care of the horse. You check on the girls!”

Yami ordered, leaping down, boots sliding in the mud and grabbed the reigns, working his magic with the horses, soothed it’s fears and helped his friend through the next tremor of thunder.

“Right!” Malik agreed running a hand though his rain-soaked cornsilk hair, the wild spikes reduced to a mop in the rain. He leapt over the cart’s backboard and pushed aside the mountain of hay keeping their three companions somewhat dry against the onslaught of the storm. He found them huddled together in the center: Ryou curled up feebly like a scared infant, he hands clapped over her ears and shaking terribly. Yugi strokes her hair soothingly and drying her cheeks with the tail of her cloak. Marik releases the tarp to unbutton her own cloak and wrapped it over the wet, shaking girl making shushing noises to soothe her.

“What happened!?” Malik demanded looking back and forth between his younger sister and his wife and their new ward.

“It’s Ryou,” Yugi answered. “I think the storm spooked her.”

“How far until the next town, Mal? We need to get the hell out of this storm.”

“We passed a sign less than a mile back,” he answered his wife first. “Keep her calm, Yugi. We’re almost there.”

Fortunately, Yami had managed to calm down Phantom enough to continue their trek, but he kept the lantern close and held high for any sign of the promised town.

Lightning flashed again and for an instant the world was noonday bright, illuminating the inn in the distance.

Everyone sighed with relief. Yami brought the horse to the stable once Malik had checked them in. The “inn” apparently was little more than a two-story cottage and barn whose first floor was a raucous tavern with few rooms for rent—usually by the hour. Fortunately there was two rooms left, converted from what had once been the attic and was used primarily as a nursing station. The accommodations were not ideal, and neither man liked the idea of their wives being ogled by the drunkest and loneliest of the tavern’s patrons.

But there was a fire and food and hot water and the inn keeper was a fierce woman who promised them dry clothes and a warm path in exchange for a few extra coppers.

It would do.

And they needed to get Ryou out of this memory-inducing storm.

The inn keeper’s husband helped Yami our Phantom in the stable. The wagon would be safe in the barn. Tomorrow they would trade the wheat for a new caravan and restock their supplies.the small town was barely that: a collection of the inn, an outfitter’s store, supply store and a brothel. All geared towards hunters, soldiers, gypsies and passing travelers.

The girls helped Ryou climbs down and the Inn keeper ushered them inside. By the time Yami and Malik returned with the inn keeper most of the tavern drunks had been sent home and those that remains had rooms upstairs. The man guides them towards the back where the kitchens were. The room was warm from the cook fires and wood burning stove. The three girls sat at the table warmed by the bowls of soups and hot cups of tea. The woman setting down two more bowls of vegetable thick soup and steaming mugs.

The men thanked her graciously and sat down to eat.

The inn keeper, a tall, fierce looking woman named Ishizu and her husband, a strong but kind-eyed man named Mahad asked their story.

They told them.

How the four travelers on their way to reunite with their caravans discovered the terrified Ryou in the road, fleeing through the girls though what she was running from she did not know.

“And you cannot remember anything before that?” Mahad asked her gently.

The girl shook her white-haired head. “I have flashes of things, a laboratory, a storm, someone laughing, but that’s all. I honestly don’t know if they’re memories or nightmares. The only reason I remember my name is because I heard someone calling me...or rather, shouting at me, like I was running away from them and they knew me and where angry with me.”

Her hands were shaking but Yugi squeezed them comfortingly.

Ryou smiles, the comfort small, but needed.

“You’re lucky you arrived when you did, that storm is terrible,” Mahad assured scrutinizing the night begins the window.

“Well, you’re all safe here until morning,” Ishizu promised and ushered the three girls up. “Let’s get you girls upstairs and into a bath and some dry clothes. You boys can take your turn when you’ve finished eating.”

They nodded in thanks: Yami and Malik devouring their food; Yugi, Marik And Ryou followed Ishizu upstairs to bathe and change.

An hour later the boys ventured upstairs to their rooms: a sitting room and a joint bedroom that allowed five people to sleep comfortably. Yami found Yugi sitting in an armchair by the fire with a book in her lap. Her wet dress and cloak replaced with a clean pale blue dress with maroon floral prints and an olive green jacket tied with a sash. Smiling, he snuck up in front of her and pressed a kiss to her lips. She giggled surprised then returned the embrace before sending him off to change into dry clothes.

“Where are Malik and Marik?” He asked, peeking off the half-frozen clothes from his rain-swollen skin. The clean shirt, fresh pants and wool coat were heaven on his skin after the freezing rain.

“They’re in the bedroom,” Yugi explained with a giggle. “I thought I’d best leave them be.”

Yami grimaced. “And Ryou?”

“She’s still in the bath. I thought after all she’s been through she needed a good warm bath.”

A scream from the adjacent washroom struck like a bolt of lighting. Yami and Yugi leapt to their feet and ran. Marik threw open the bedroom door, shoving a reluctant Malik behind him until he was certain the room was clear and ignoring his lack of shirt followed his sister and brother-in-law. Mahad was already there when they arrived and shows the door open.

“What happened?” He demanded then froze, stumbled on a mixture of disgust and shock “Dear God.”

The four piled past him and into the washroom where Ryou stood shaking in only a towel, eyes wide and shaking staring st the window. Ishizu was next to her, her hands shaking as if she did not know what to do. “My dear girl,” her voice was awash I’d sympathy and disbelief. “What happened to you?”

And then they say it—their eyes bulging with horror and shock and empathy for their new friend.

Ryou could only stare at the mirror. Stare not at the horrified face of her reflection, but the terrible Y-shapes scar marring her chest: it’s two points starting at her shoulder blades, curving down to connect at a point just above her heart and continued down to just above her navel. Angry, red, raised skin of a scar that had long since healed.

It was an autopsy scar.

**Author's Note:**

> Anyone wanna guess what plot I was going for?
> 
> Not sure if I'll expand on this one but I definitely think its got the premise for an interesting story.


End file.
